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Daily Business Report — April 30, 2010

40 Under 40 Nominations

Nominations are now open for San Diego Metropolitan Magazine’s 11th annual 40 Under 40 awards. The nomination period ends May 31. The honorees will be feted at our annual luncheon on Sept. 9 at the San Diego Convention Center and profiled in the September issue of the magazine.Visit http://sandiegometro.com/40under40/ for a nomination form.

Small Businesses Encouraged to Bid on School Project

The San Diego Community College District will hold an informal informational meeting with interested small businesses on May 4 to let them know of bidding possibilities for the new Student Services building that is to be built at Mesa College. The meeting will be from 7 to 9 a.m. in Room H117/118 on the college campus at 7250 Mesa College Drive, San Diego 92111. The small business contractors the district would like to reach out to are those that fall under the categories of Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, Minority Business Enterprise, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Enterprise and Small Business Enterprise.

Construction of the Student Services building is financed from the district’s Propositions S and N Construction Bond Program. A bid package for the project has been published and bids from contractors are due by May 20.

The district said the San Diego Contracting Opportunities Center can provide training and technical assistance to help those small businesses who may need assistance to bid effectively.

San Diego Trust to Open Banking Office in Point Loma

Raymond Simas

San Diego Trust Bank will open a new full-service banking office in Point Loma during the summer. It will be headed by Raymond Simas, who joined the bank last June and has been in the banking business in Point Loma for nearly 30 years. The new banking center will be at 1110 Rosecrans St., Suite 101, at the corner of Rosecrans and Avenida de Portugal. Prior to joining San Diego Trust Bank, Simas was vice president and manager of San Diego National Bank’s Point Loma office. His community work includes board memberships with the Peninsula YMCA, Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and Point Loma Association. Simas is a member of the Honorary Deputy Sheriffs Association and is a past president of the United Portuguese SES.

Smart Growth Awards Set for May 12

Tickets are available for the 2010 Smart Growth Awards program May 12 sponsored by the San Diego/Tijuana district council of the Urban Land Institute. It will be held at the McMillin Event Center, 2875 Dewey Road, San Diego 92106. Tickets are $45 for members and nonmembers, $25 for Young Leader Members and $15 for student members. This year’s Smart Growth Awards will encompass the “Best of the Decade,” recognizing projects that were entitled, built or significantly remodeled between 2000 and 2010. In addition, the San Diego Architectural Foundation will present its Community Vision Award for 2010. Visit ulisd.org/events/221 to purchase tickets.

Lawyers Club to Honor 3 Attorneys

Jay Jeffcoat

Betty Boone

San Diego attorneys Jay Jeffcoat, Elizabeth Balfour and Betty Boone will receive major awards from the Lawyers Club of San Diego at its May 26 annual dinner, “Catalyst for Change,” at the U.S. Grant Hotel in Downtown San Diego. The club also will pay tribute to the late Midge Costanza, a former White House aide who died last month. The keynote address will be by Roberta Liebenberg, chair of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession and a senior partner at Fine, Kaplan and Black, R.P.C. in Philadelphia

Jeffcoat, partner with DLA Piper US, will receive the Belva Lockwood Award, the club’s highest honor, for his contributions to the organization. He helped found the first National Organization of Women chapter in El Centro years ago and is active with the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, United Way, the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, the New Children’s Museum and other organizations.

Balfour, a partner at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, is to receive the Community Service Award, given to an individual whose activities have improved the status of women and promoted equality. Balfour co-chaired the 2007-08 Women’s Resource Fair Task Force and has received the 2007 San Diego County Bar Association’s Service to the Bar Award, among others, and serves as a board member of the San Diego County Bar Association and the Legal Aid Society of San Diego.

Boone, retired chief deputy county counsel, is to receive the Icon Award, which recognizes her lifelong commitment to improving the status of women. It will be only the second time the Lawyers Club has given the award. It was initially presented to White House press correspondent Helen Thomas in 2008. Boone, who has been a member of Lawyers Club since its formation in 1972, was the second female graduate of the University of San Diego School of Law. She currently serves as Lawyers Club’s historian and archivist.

The annual dinner includes a VIP reception at 5 p.m., cocktail reception at 5:30 p.m. and dinner and program at 6:30 p.m. Lawyers Club president Catherine Kowalewski, a partner at Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP, will preside over the event and will pass the gavel to 2010-11 president Wendy Behan, senior associate at Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield, who begins her term as president July 1.

Pacific Office Properties Trust Names Executive VP of Operations

Michael Burer

Pacific Office Properties Trust Inc. has named Michael Burer as executive vice president of operations. He replaces Jim Ingebritsen, who was elebated to president and CEO of the company. Burer will oversee all property operations across Pacific Office Properties’ 4.7-million-square-foot portfolio. His responsibilities will include oversight of leasing activities and the review and approval of capital investment decisions. Burer joined the company in 2002 after working for the San Diego real estate group Chesnut Properties. Prior to his promotion at Pacific Office Properties Trust, he was senior vice president of finance. Burer received his undergraduate degree in accounting from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management, his MBA from the University of San Diego School of Business, and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law.

Bae Systems Renews Lease for $3.5 Million

Bae Systems San Diego Ship Repair Inc. has renewed for five years its lease for an 86,254-square-foot warehouse building — a valuation of $3.56 million. The building is at 655 Gateway Center Way, San Diego 92102. It is about three miles from the company’s waterfront maintenance, repair and manufacturing site at 2205 East Belt St. in Barrio Logan. The company plans to add additional offices at the Gateway Center building. Shane Harmon and Rob Hixson of CB Richard Ellis represented the landlord, JTF Enterprises. Glenn Friedrich, Russ Sande and Gene Sachs of Cresa Partners represented BAE Systems.

San Diegan Gets Gubernatorial Appointment

Lei-Chala Wilson, 50, of San Diego, has been appointed to the California Council on Criminal Justice by Gov. Schwarzenegger. Since 1989, she has served as deputy public defender for San Diego County. She was a law clerk for San Diego County in 1989. Wilson is president of the San Diego National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no salary. Wilson is a Democrat.

Rehabilitation Lab Hires Director of Occupational Therapy

Medical Rehabilitation & Kinematics Lab, which deals with the rehabilitation of people with disabilities, has hired Patricia Gonzalez as its new director of occupational therapy. Gonzalez is the founder and developer of the NeuroSuit, a resistive physical rehabilitation suit that helps bring the body into correct alignment, allowing patients to learn the correct patterns of movement. She is the founder of Sunshine Therapy, which was opened in 2001.

Chase to Expand in San Diego County

Chase announced that it will open more than 10 branches in San Diego County in 2010 — part of a plan to open about 90 new branches in California and adding 1,200 new jobs statewide. The new branches will extend Chase’s network to more than 800 bank branches and almost 3,000 ATMs across California. Chase already has begun opening 13 new full-service bank branches in Stater Bros. Supermarkets in San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties.

Seminar Examine’s Casino’s Hiring and Retention Policies

Peggy Elio Keers, vice president of human resources for Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort, will explain how her company attracts and retains employees at a May 14 seminar sponsored by the SDSU College of Extended Studies. It will be held from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. in the Extended Studies Center at 5701 Hardy Ave. Attendees will learn to prepare themselves and their companies on how to handle a possible dramatic increase in the incidence of people leaving their jobs voluntarily when the job market turns for the better. Cost for the seminar is $35. For more information, call (619) 594-1138 or visit neverstoplearning.net.

Datebook

May 6

NETWORKING MIXER: Sponsored by the San Diego Better Business Bureau. 4 to 6 p.m., the Paradise Grille, 2690 Via de la Valle, in the Flower Hill Promenade retail center, San Diego. Public is invited. Admission is $10 per person. For information, visit sandiego.bbb.org or call Andrea McNelis at the BBB at (858) 637-6199.

May 10

SEMINAR: San Diego Tech Coast Angels presents a full-day seminar on angel investing to the San Diego community. Seminar was developed by the Kauffman Foundation. Presenter is John May, chair emeritus of the Angel Capital Association. Topics: how angel funding fits in; angel portfolio strategy; due diligence; structuring the deal; valuation; the post-investment relationship. 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., offices of Mintz Levin, 3580 Carmel Mountain Road, Suite 300, San Diego 92130. Free to SDTCA members, $250 to members of any TCA network or CONNECT, $350 general registration. To register, visit techcoastangeles.com. For more information, call Laura Parsons at (858) 964-1302.

SMART GROWTH AWARDS: The San Diego/Tijuana district council of the Urban Land Institute presents its 2010 Smarth Growth Awards to honor pioneers, entrepreneurs, trendsetters and fans of sustainable development in the region. 6 to 8 p.m., McMillin Event Center, 2875 Dewey Road, San Diego 92106. San Diego Architectural Foundation will also presents its Community Vision Award for 2010. $45 for members and nonmembers, $25 for Young Leader members and $15 for student members. To purchase tickets, visit ulisd.org/events/221.

May 13

GREEN PROGRAM: The Green Chamber of Commerce sponsors presentations by John Stein, CEO of Kirei USA, and Remy Meraz, area sales manager of ClearEdge Power, on “Marketing Green — Lessons from the Trenches.” 7:30 to 9 a.m., Sheraton Carlsbad, 5480 Grand Pacific Drive, Carlsbad. Speakers will discuss their experiences marketing green versus conventional products. Admission $10 if registered by May 12, $15 at the event. For more information, visit greenchambersd.com/events.

May 14

SEMINAR: The National Association of Women Business Owners San Diego hosts a talk by Joon Han, founder of Better San Diego, speaking on “Get Ahead by Giving Back.” Noon to 1 p.m., Brandman University, 7460 Mission Valley Road, San Diego. Han will share strategies to help entrepreneurs accelerate their businesses. NAWBO members free, $25 for nonmembers. Box lunches to be provided. Online registration and more information available at nawbo-sd.org.

May 19

WORKSHOP: San Diego Press Club sponsors “Life After Journalism,” a program presented by Joe Ames, former editor of the Orange County Register. Ames spent 30 years as a reporter and editor in radio, TV and newspapers and will discuss career options after journalism. 6 to 8 p.m., KGTV Studio, 4600 Air Way, San Diego. Free to Press Club members, $10 for nonmembers. To reserve, call Terry Williams, executive director, at (619) 231-4340 or visit sdpressclub.org.

May 20

CLEANTECH PANEL: CONNECT presents a panel talk on “Cleantech & Renewable Energy Financing: From the Public to the Private and Beyond,” 9 to 11 a.m., AMN Healthcare, 12400 High Bluff Drive, No. 100, San Diego 92130. Panelists will discuss federal and state programs and incentives for the renewable and cleantech industry as well as the private marketplace. Panelists: Nick Leibham, of counsel, Dirk Michels, partner, Sue Hodges, administrative partner and Greg Brucia, senior associate, all of K&L Gates LLP; and Andrew McAllister, program director, California Center for Sustainable Energy. Cost is $45 for CONNECT members, $65 for nonmembers. For more information, call Bethany Kraynack at (858) 964-1312. Register at connect.org.

June 15

PRESENTATION: Michael Bergthold of Odyssey Strategic Advisory Services and J. Barrett Marum of San Diego Sheppard Mullin will cover legal issues faced by buyers and sellers of distressed businesses or assets; cover Section 363 bankruptcy purchases and sales; and buying and selling out-of-state and federal receiverships in a program sponsored by the Association for Corporate Growth San Diego. Doubletree Hotel Hazard Center, 7450 Hazard Center Drive, San Diego 92108. 7 a.m. registration. 7:40 to 9 a.m., breakfast and program. Free for ACG members, $50 for nonmembers. Make reservations at acteva.com/go/acgsd or acgsd@acgsd.org.

Small Business Workshops

Helping start-up and established small businesses throughout San Diego and Imperial counties prosper and excel, SCORE San Diego continues its series of low-cost workshops. Workshop fees range from $29 to $109.

Here is a schedule for the first week of May:

• May 1 – How to Start and Manage Your Own Business – 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at Point Loma Nazarene University in Mission Valley (4007 Camino del Rio South, San Diego 92108; pre-paid registration $69, $79 at the door).

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We Want Your Opinions on San Diego’s Big Issues
In the coming months, Probosky Research (one of California’s leading opinion research firms) will continue its partnership with SD METRO to survey San Diego residents about topics of interest to our readers. We’d like to throw open the door for suggestions for topics. What do you want to know? What do you think you know, but aren’t sure? What are you certain you know, but want to prove it beyond doubt? Ideally, we’d like to see questions that have to do with public policy.
Some areas may include Mayor Filner’s first 100 days job performance, should the city be responsible for economic growth and the creation of new jobs, how important are infrastructure improvements to our daily lives (streets and bridges, etc.), how important is water independence, how satisfied are residents with public transit or how do city residents value Balboa Park and other open spaces? Do you believe the City Council should revive the Plaza de Panama plan for Balboa Park?
You can email Probolsky Research directly with your ideas: info@probolskyresearch.com